Business

Congo president Tshisekedi demands audit of mining registry to fight fraud

Democratic Republic of Congo President Felix Tshisekedi has demanded a ban on issuing and trading mining permits until the country’s mining registry has been audited, a measure aimed at combating fraud within the sector.

Tshisekedi told ministers he wanted to end the squandering of mining assets by unnamed political actors and officials involved in the administration of the mining register, which records mining concessions, according to minutes of the meeting seen by Reuters.

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“This recommended clean-up will increase the contribution of the mining sector to the state’s budget and help, as a priority, the people benefit from the mineral wealth of our country,” Tshisekedi told ministers.
The move is an escalation of Tshisekedi’s ongoing review of deals struck by his predecessor Joseph Kabila, which includes a $6 billion “infrastructure-for-minerals” deal with Chinese investors.
Congo is the world’s top producer of cobalt and Africa’s biggest copper producer, but more than 70 percent of its roughly 100 million people live on less than $1.90 per day, according to the World Bank.
Transparency activists have estimated Congo has lost out on billions of dollars of revenue from mining deals over the past two decades.
Tshisekedi gained the presidency through a power-sharing settlement with Kabila, following the disputed 2018 election, but he has gradually taken almost all the levers of government, political analysts say, and been increasingly outspoken about Kabila’s mining deals.
Mining companies who fail to comply with their administrative and social obligations should have their licenses revoked, Tshisekedi told Mining Minister Antoinette N’Samba.
He asked N’Samba to identify mining companies where the state had not gained 10 percent of shares when the permit flipped from exploration to exploitation, as required by the mining code.

Business

Credit Suisse managers could face disciplinary action, Swiss regulator says

Swiss financial regulator FINMA said it was considering whether to take disciplinary action against Credit Suisse managers after Switzerland’s second largest bank had to be rescued last week by UBS.
FINMA President Marlene Amstad told Swiss newspaper NZZ am Sonntag it was “still open” whether new proceedings would be started, but the regulator’s main focus was on “the transitional phase of integration” and “preserving financial stability.”

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UBS agreed to buy Credit Suisse for 3 billion Swiss francs ($3.26 billion) in stock a week ago and to assume up to 5 billion francs in losses in a merger engineered by Swiss authorities during a period of market turmoil in global banking.
Credit Suisse on Sunday declined to comment on the FINMA President’s comments when asked by Reuters for a response.
Asked whether FINMA is looking into holding current Credit Suisse managers accountable for the collapse of Switzerland’s second-largest bank, Amstad said it is “exploring the options”.
“CS had a cultural problem that translated into a lack of responsi-bilities,” Amstad was quoted as saying by NZZ, adding: “Numerous mistakes were made over several years”.
FINMA had conducted six public “enforcement proceedings” against Credit Suisse in recent years, Amstad said.
“We have intervened and used our strongest instruments,” she said of its previous moves.
Amstad also defended Switzerland’s decision to write down 16 billion Swiss francs of Credit Suisse Additional Tier 1 (AT1) debt, to zero as part of the forced rescue merger.
“The AT1 instruments contractually provide that they will be fully written off in the event of a trigger event, in particular the granting of extraordinary government support,” Amstad said.
“The bonds were created precisely for such situations.”

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Business

Aramco affirms support for China’s energy security

Saudi Arabian oil giant Aramco affirmed on Sunday its support for China’s long-term energy security and development, the company’s CEO Amin Nasser said in remarks made before a forum in Beijing.

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Nasser said that the company has partnerships and emission-reducing technologies with China to make lower carbon products.

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Business

Kuwait Oil Co dealing with ‘limited fire’ at well where oil leak occurred last week

Kuwait Oil Company said on Sunday it is dealing with a “limited fire” that erupted at a well where oil leaked last week.
The company said in a statement that no injuries had been reported at the scene.
“The company’s operations in the area have not been affected,” the statement read.
Kuwait Oil Company declared a state of emergency last Monday due to an oil leak in the west of the country.

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